Roll seal for strip heater



March 22, 1960 G. H. YOUNG ETAL ROLL SEAL FOR STRIP HEATER 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1954 INVENTOR 617! young BY W. H.Dai/]Jr.w/A 4;

March 22, 1960 G. H. YOUNG HAL 2,929,614

ROLL SEAL FOR STRIP HEATER Filed Feb. 11, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

BY m1 00/76 r United States Patent ROLL SEAL non STRIP rmarnn Gloyd H.Young, Ida, Mich, and William H. Bailey, Jr.,

Toledo, Ohio, assignors, by mesue assignments, to Midland-RossCorporation, Cleveland, Qhio, a corporation of Ohio Application February11, 1954, Serial No. 414,164

17 Claims. (c1. 263-3) This invention relates to roll seals, as used forstrip heaters, and is very effectively used as a roll seal for the endof a heating chamber for heating steel strip in a continuous galvanizingline.

The problem of adequately sealing the strip entry-end of an atmospherechamber involves providing for mini-' mum clearance at the ends of theseal, ie the edges of the strip and the ends of rolls making that seal,for irregularities of strip surfaces, welded joints, thermal expansionof the rolls and the like, without scoring or marking the strip. Theroll seal apparatus should be accessible and serviceable, adjustable, ifnecessary, for various strip widths, and long lasting with a minimum ofattention.

For a consideration of what we believe to be novel and our invention,attention is directed to the following portion of this specification,the drawing, and the concluding claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the upper portion of an entry roll sealas applied to the entry end of a continuous steel strip galvanizingline, the outline only of the lower roll being shown.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the entry roll seal.

Fig. 3 is a partial end view of the roll seal showing means for raisingone roll for threading the strip.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the upper roll taken through line 44 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of an alternate upper roll.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the left-hand end of the upper and lowerrolls.

Fig. 6a is a sectional view of the right-hand end of the lower rollshowing an abnormal condition of the roll.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the end of the rolls taken on line 7-7 ofFigs. 6 and 9.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the apparatus on line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a partially sectional view of an end of a seal brush devicetaken on line 99 of Fig. 8.

The improved roll seal for sealing the end of an atmosphere chamberthrough which strip passes comprises a pair of rolls mounted on supportsat the end of the chamher with one of the rolls on either side of theroll pass line, and at least one of the rolls being articulated toaccommodate variations in the gap between the rolls to be sealed.

In the drawings a preferred form of the improved rollseal is shown asapplied to the entry end of a horizontal strip heating apparatus for acontinuous galvanizing line of the general type and process as shown inpatent to C. Cone and J. Huebler, 2,625,495 in Fig. 11 thereof.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the upper roll and its supporting means are shown insome detail. The upper roll isgenerally indicated by an arrow at 21 andcomprises an assembly of right circular cylindrical segments'22 havinginternal axial holes therethrough. The segments'22 are assembled on ashaft 23 which supported in flanged ments 22 are compressed betweenwasher plates 26, 27

bearings 24, 25 at either end of the roll. The end segat either endthereof, plate 27 being spaced from the inner race 28 of bearing 25 by aspacer cylinder 31, the flanged bearing 25 being mounted on a rolllifting plate 32, by bolts, not shown. Washer plate 26 is spaced fromflanged bearing 24 by a spring 33 acting between the plate 2-6 and awasher 34 adjacent the inner race 35 of the flanged bearing 24, shown inFig. 6.

The inner axial bores, or holes in the segments 22 are square in shape,and the shaft 23 passing therethrough is also square, but several stripthicknesses smaller in diameter so that the segments 22 may movelaterally with respect to the shaft for reasons shortly appearing. Thenon-circular shaft 23 and hole in segments 22 for the shaft are designedto allow the segments to roll with the shaft with the face of thesegments moving at'strip speed. The shaft is preferably driven, byconventional means, not shown, at the right hand end of the shaft, toinsure thatthe segments maintain strip speed at their line of contactwith the strip.

Alternatively, it may in some cases be desirable to allow the rollsegments 22 to find their own rotational speed by friction on the strip,allowing end segments not contacting the strip to idle in contact withan atmosphere seal bar 36 on the chamber Wall, to be described.

. In this case the shaft for the upper roll would preferably be a pipemember 37 extending through a round axial hole or bore in segments 38 ofthe upper roll 21.

The upper roll 21 is supported by bearings 24. and 25 mounted on rolllift plates 32 and 41 on the respective right and left-hand ends of theroll, and the plates 32 and 41 are supported by fulcrum rod portions 42,53 at the respective ends of the atmosphere seal bar 36.

The roll lift plates 41 and 32 are actuated by fiuid cylinders 44 and 45through rods 46, 47 and yokes 48, 49, the cylinders pushing the ends ofthe lift plates nearest the chamber downward, thus lifting the upperroll 21. The cylinders are supported on flanges 51, 52, 53 and 54forming a portion of an upper roll seal mounting plate 55 secured to andforming a part of the wall 56 of the atmos phere containing chamber, thecylinders 44, 45 being trun nion mounted in the usual way.

The roll seal also comprises a lower roll generally indicated at 57 overwhich a strip 58 is passed through the seal and the wall 56 into thechamber. The upper roll segments 22 in normal operation tend to followthe strip or the lower roll 57 in contact therewith and to turn againstthe face of the atmosphere seal bar 36. However, occasional strip weldsor imperfections will hit a segment and bump it upwards. To hold thesegments from jumping off the strip and loosing the seal, a plurality ofhold down rollers 61 are provided, supported by yokes 62 mounted on rods63 out of bearings 64 which are secured to a shaft 65. The shaft 65 issupported at its ends in brackets 66, 67 secured to the plate 55 bybolts 68. Weights 69 are provided on the rods 63, movable thereon toprovide an adjustable biasing means tending to hold the segments 22 intheir normal operating position.

The lower seal roll 57 comprises a seal face tube 71 having internallysplined rings 70, 72 set into its respective ends, and a shaft 73passing through the tube and carrying next adjacent the splined rings72' a pair of toothed gear-like rings 74, 75 keyed to the shaft 73 bykeys 76, 77. Adjacent the ends of the tube 71 are spherical facedwashers 78, 79 having a fiat face toward the tube and the spherical facetoward tubular end pieces 81, 82 mounted on the shaft by keys 83, 84 toturn there; with. The lower roll 57 is mounted in flange portions 85, 86of a lower roll seal mounting bracket 87 form ing apart of the wall 56of the chamber. A beating.

. 88 mounted on the right-hand flange portion 86 accuq tately' alignsthat end of the lower roll with a. recess 7 and covered by a'plate 92secured bytbolts 93. A hearing 95 is set upon the end of the shaft 73 inthe hous: ing 89 supporting the left-hand end of the shaft 73 in acrossthe end of the chamber and between which, the

accurate alignment-with the hole 90 in the flange portion 85' Thetubular end piece 81 sets accurately within the hole 90 with a closerunning tit, thus sealing that end of the roll with, the flange portion85. A spring 94 acting between a washer 96 adjacent the bearing 95 andthe end piece 81 exerts a force tending to hold the assembly of endpieces 83., 82 spherical faced washers '78, Z9 and seal face tube 71 incontact as a unitary structure. This lower roll structure is designed sothatthe roll seal face tube 71 may, as it will under adverse temperatureconditions, bend or warp as much as inch out of a straight line in afour foot length, and the shaft ;-3 can and will remain straight, henceend pieces 81, '82 will remain in proper alignment in. a close runningfit in the. respectiye flange portions 85, 86. The roll seal face tube71 may even go skew, 'as shown in Fig. 61:

operations without loss of an 7 under stress of abnormal adequate seal.i

To complete the seal, of the. upper roll, 21; a pair'of lend supportblocks 97 are mounted on the' upper roll seal mounting plate 55. Theblocks d7 havea cylindrical face portion forming a 90 curve around theroll face adjacent the flange portions 85, 86 to receive the end Washerplates 26, 27 ofthe upper roll. Between the blocks 97 the atrnosphereseal bar 36' extends, form ing with the blocks 97 a continuous contactwith the strip passes; means for supporting each of said rolls insubstantially parallel relation and in rolling contact with the strippassing therethrough; one of said rolls being an articulated assembly ofroll segments maintained in substantially axial alignment as the strippasses between the rolls; and a plurality of individual hold downelement means each comprising a roller supported on a shaft for rotationthereof, and each adapted to apply force through said roller tending tohold an individual roll segment in contact with the strip.

Z. A substantially non-articulated roll for a roll seal l whichcomprises said non-articulated roll andanother roll disposed on eitherside of a strip pass line, said subupper roll 21 from end to endthereof. The seal bar 36 rests on an extended web portion 98 of theplate 55 to form a continuous seal to the wall 56 of the chamber fromthe upper roll 21.

To complete the seal of the lower roll 57 with the wall 56 of thechamber, the lower roll seal mounting bracket forming a part of thatwall includes a web or cover portion 99 extending outward from the wall56, under the roll 57, and terminating in a lip 1571 upon which a seriesofbrush elements 1%2 rest in'closely adjacent relationship extendingfrom the right-hand flange portion 86 to the left-hand flange portionand into a slot 103 formed therein. The brush eieinents are preferablyformed of carbon blocks, although in many cases, porous bronzcs,carbonor lubricant-impregnated bronzes, cast iron and hardened toolsteel would perform very satisfactorily To hold, the brush elements 102in contact with each other in, a lateral line on the lip 101, and toaccommodate motion in the. slot by the end brush element, an end block104 in the slot '103 is held against the end brush element 192 byaspring 105 retained within a cap structure 1%.. The block 104 ismachined to a close fit with tllC'SlOt 163 to seal end'of the end brushelement 162 as it moves toward or away from the lower roll 57.

A seriesfof weighted hooks 161 stantially non-articulated rollcomprising, in combination: an elongate shaft; rollend piece cylindersconcentrically mounted on the shaft at either end'thereofpanintermediate roll face tube having an inner axial bore substantiallylarger than the diameter of the shaft, mounted on theshaft between saidend piece cylinders; and ring support means mounted on the shaftadjacent and within the respective ends of the roll face tube providingsupport therefor only at circumferential lines of support on said ringsupport means. i v 1 a 3. A substantially non-articulated roll accordingto claim. '2: wherein said roll face tube comprises internally splinedportions at its ends adjacentthe ring support means, and the ringsupport means each comprising a circular. series of teeth engaging saidsplines to concentrically support the roll face tube on. the shaftanddrive the same from the shaft. V V I 4. A substantially non-articulatedroll according to claim 2, comprising: a pair'of Washers between theroll face tube and each of the respective end piece cylinders, each ofthe washers having a flat face towards the roll face tube and aspherical face towards 'theend'piece .cylinders, and having internalbores therethrough substantially' larger than the diameter of the shaftpassing therethrough; and each end piece cylinder having a conical facetowards said washers whereby to contact the same on a circular line ofcontact and allow the roll face tube to' bend with respect to the shaftwithout disturbing axial alignment of the end piece cylinders.

5. A roll seal for sealing the end of a chamber through which strippasses, comprising, in combination: an articulated upper seal rollmounted above the strip pass line, the upper roll comprising a pluralityof cylindrical seg 'ments having axial bores therethrough and a shaftpassing through thebores, the shaft being of substantially-less diameterthan the bores; endseal blocks at either end of the upper rollcontouredto fit to. the roll fora substantial portion of its face fromthe strip pass line. around the periphery of the roll on .the'chamberside thereof, said blocks forming an extension of the wall forming thechamher to seal the roll end to the chamber; and an atmosphere seal barforming a portion of the end of, the chamher to be sealed, extendingbetween said blocks/to form therewith a continuous line of contact withthe upper roll.

rest one on each brush element to holdethe same, upon the lip 1 01, andby falling against a bar 108 which is secured at its end toflangeportionsBS, 36 by nuts 112, the weighted. springs also hold thebrush elementsin 1 contact with theiower roll-ST Weights 1% on .ihehooks 107 may be adjustedflas' desired so that as projections orelements of dirt cling.-

ing to the lower roil momentarily force the brush telement out of.position; the weighted hook: will return the same to its normaloper'atingand sealing position; Weclaim: V f 7 I. A roll seat assemblyfor sealing the end ofacham: be! through which strip. passes;-theassembly compris: ing, combination: a pair of elongated rolls mounted 6.A roll seal according to claim'Sr wherein'the shaft extends beyond theouter ends of the segments, and comprising lift means cooperating withthe ends of said shaft for raising the upper roll ode said'blocks andoff the strip pass line sufiicient for passing a strip threadingbar'through' the strippass line.

7. A roll seal for sealing theend of a chamber through which strippasses, comprising, in combination:' a pair ofsjeal rolls on eitherside'of the strip 'passline'for contacting thestrip. passingtherethrough; one. of'said rolls closure with the, .wall of thechamberi'an' articulated series of brushes mounted on the supportbr'acket and contacting said rollbetween the end brackets to form a sealbetween the roll and the wall of the chamber; one of said end bracketsforming a recess adjacent said series of brushes to receive at least aportion of one brush of said series; and means in said recess forsealing the end brush of said series to said end bracket and formaintaining on said series a compressive force tending to hold thebrushes in continuous contact between said end brackets.

8. A substantially non-articulated roll for a roll seal which comprisessaid non-articulated roll and another roll disposed on either side of astrip pass line, said nonarticulated roll comprising, in combination: anelongate shaft; roll end piece cylinders concentrically mounted on theshaft at either end thereof; an intermediate roll face tube having aninner bore substantially larger than the diameter of the shaft; ringsupport means mounted on the shaft adjacent and within the respectiveends of the roll face tube supporting the same concentrically on theshaft at the said ring support means; and means comprising the endsurfaces of the roll face tube and the adjacent faces of the end piececylinders forming a spherical surface to conical surface end joint ateach end of the roll face tube.

9. A non-articulated roll according to claim 8 and comprising washersbetween the end piece cylinders and the respective ends of the roll facetube, the washers each having a central axial bore substantially largerthan the shaft through which the shaft passes, and each washer havingone spherical face and a plane face.

10. A roll seal assembly for sealing the end of a chamber through whichthe strip passes, the assembly comprising, in combination: a pair ofelongated rolls mounted across the end of the chamber, and between whichthe strip passes; means for supporting each of said rolls insubstantially parallel relation and in rolling contact with the strippassing therethrough; one of said rolls being an articulated assembly ofroll segments maintained in substantially axial alignment as the strippasses between the rolls; and one of said rolls comprising a shaftsupported on the support means; pivot support ring means mounted on theshaft near the respective ends thereof; a right, circular, roll facetube disposed around the shaft and extending between said pivot supportring means whereby said roll face tube is supported substantially byline contact around the shaft only at each of said ring means and isindependent of flexing of the shaft therebetween or therebeyond; a pairof washers on either end of said roll face tube, each washer having acentral hole substantially larger than the diameter of the shafttherethrough and having a face perpendicular to the end of the roll facetube thereagainst and an opposite spherically shaped face; a roll endmember at each end of the roll having a conical face contacting thespherical face of the washers; and spring means acting on said roll endmembers tending to force them together.

11. A roll seal assembly for sealing the end of a chamber through whichstrip passes, the assembly comprising, in combination: a pair ofelongated rolls mounted across the end of the chamber and between whichthe strip passes; and means for supporting each of said rolls insubstantially parallel relation and in rolling contact with the strippassing therethrough; one of said rolls being an articulated rollcomprising a shaft extending axially through apertures in a plurality ofroll segments mounted thereon and in driving relation to at least one ofsaid segments, the shaft being substantially smaller than the aperturesin the segments whereby to allow relative lateral movement of each ofthe segments independently with respect to the shaft yet insure theshaft will drive the roll segments in driving relation therewith whensuch segments tend to turn at a different rotational speed than theshaft.

12. A roll seal assembly for sealing the end of a chamber through whichstrip passes, the assembly comprising, in combination: a pair ofelongated rolls mounted across the end of the chamber and between whichthe strip passes, one of said rolls being an articulated assembly ofroll segments having holes therethrough and mounted upon a shaft whosesize is sufficiently smaller than said holes to allow relative lateralmovement of the segments with respect to the shaft; independent meansacting upon each of the several segments tending to force each of theseveral segments toward the other roll of the pair; and means forsupporting each of said rolls in substantially parallel relation and inrolling contact with the strip passing therebetween, said supportingmeans comprising resilient means maintaining an axial compressive forceon said segments maintaining them in contact with each other yetallowing relative lateral movement therebetween.

13. A roll seal assembly according to claim 12 wherein said shaft is indriving relation to at least one of said segments whereby to maintainthe rotational speeds of the shaft and the segments in driving relationtherewith substantially equal within the tolerance of play between theshaft and the segments.

14. A roll seal assembly for sealing the end of a chamber through whichstrip passes, the assembly comprising, in combination: a pair ofelongated rolls mounted across the end of the chamber and between whichthe strip passes, one of said rolls being an articulated assembly ofroll segments having holes therethrough and mounted upon a shaft whosesize is sufiiciently smaller than said holes to allow relative lateralmovement of the segments with respect to the shaft; means for supportingsaid rolls in substantially parallel relation and in rolling contactwith the strip passing therebetween; and independent means acting uponeach of the several segments tending to force each of the severalsegments toward the other roll of said pair.

15. A roll seal assembly according to claim 14 wherein said shaft is indriving relation to at least one of said segments whereby to maintainthe rotational speeds of the shafts and the segments substantially equalwithin the tolerance of play between the shaft and the segments.

16. A roll seal assembly according to claim 15 and comprising means formaintaining an axial compression force on said segments sufficient tomaintain them in contact with each other yet allowing relative lateralmovement therebetween.

17. A roll seal assembly for sealing the end of a chamber through whichstrip passes, the assembly comprising, in combination: a pair ofelongated rolls mounted across the end of the chamber and between whichthe strip passes, one of said rolls being an articulated assembly ofroll segments having holes therethrough and mounted on a shaft whosesize is sufliciently smaller than said holes to allow independentrelative lateral movement of the segments with respect to the shaft; andmeans for supporting said rolls in substantially parallel relation andin rolling contact with the strip passing therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS936,250 McDonough Oct. 5, 1909 1,191,386 Battle July 18, 1916 1,576,163Voelker Mar. 9, 1926 1,737,117 Morton Nov. 26, 1929 1,833,132 Shoifstallet al. Nov. 24, 1931 2,080,027 Allsop et al. May 11, 1937 2,135,175Fallon Nov. 1, 1938 2,603,578 Ornitz July 15, 1952 2,654,587 SkivesenOct. 6, 1953

